


sleepyhead

by imposterhuman



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Coffee Addict Tony Stark, Feelings Realization, Fluff, M/M, No Angst, Pining, Pre-Slash, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, Tooth Rotting Fluff, soft steve rogers, steve says a bad language word
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-08 09:07:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21473512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imposterhuman/pseuds/imposterhuman
Summary: Steve was getting more and more worried about Tony. The genius had been on a creating binge for the last week and a half, surfacing only once to nab an armful of energy bars and instant coffee from the kitchen and scurry back to his lab. JARVIS assured them that Tony was still breathing, but his privacy protocols prevented him from sharing more.If he didn’t think Tony had some sort of contingency plan, Steve would have definitely broken the lab doors down to check on him.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 7
Kudos: 233





	sleepyhead

**Author's Note:**

> for anon on tumblr who wanted stevetony and "do you sleep anymore?"
> 
> enjoy!

Steve was getting more and more worried about Tony. The genius had been on a creating binge for the last week and a half, surfacing only once to nab an armful of energy bars and instant coffee from the kitchen and scurry back to his lab. JARVIS assured them that Tony was still breathing, but his privacy protocols prevented him from sharing more.

If he didn’t think Tony had some sort of contingency plan, Steve would have definitely broken the lab doors down to check on him. 

As it were, he was standing outside with a plate of sandwiches, patiently waiting for Tony to let him in. Every five or so minutes, he knocked and had JARVIS remind the genius he was still there. To sweeten the deal, he brought a mug of steaming coffee with three sugars, just the way Tony liked it.

Steve checked his watch and raised his hand to knock again. Before he could connect, though, the doors slid open with a quiet hiss. Steve walked in quickly before Tony could change his mind. 

“Tony?” Steve called when he couldn’t immediately spot the engineer. He patted DUM-E on the head as he passed. “Hey bud, where’s Tony?”

DUM-E made a happy trill and grabbed Steve’s wrist gently with his claw. He dragged Steve to the back corner of the lab, beeping all the while like he was trying to tell Steve something, probably where Tony was. Steve followed easily, laughing a little as he tried to keep the plate of sandwiches balanced.

“DUM-E, slow down,” he chided gently as the bot tugged him to one of the lab benches with what could only be described as an expectant noise. “What are you trying to show me?”

“Probably me,” Tony said, popping his head out from under the bench. The bags under his eyes looked like bruises. Steve didn’t startle, not one bit. “Because he’s a meddlesome little scrap heap. Oh, is that for me?”

Before Steve could even react, Tony had snatched the mug of coffee from his hand and drained it in one gulp. “That was boiling hot!” he said with no small amount of horror. “Oh my god, Tony!”

“That hits the spot,” Tony said, ignoring Steve’s concerned fluttering, as he was wont to do. “Did you bring more?”

“Not until you eat something,” Steve lied, holding out the sandwiches. Tony didn’t need any more caffeine, if the alarming number of mugs in the immediate vicinity was any indication.    
They’re grilled cheese.”

“I’m not hungry,” Tony waved them off, turning back to whatever he was working on. “I ate, like… J, how long ago did I eat?” He paused for a moment and cast a look at Steve. “Actually, don’t answer that. I should probably eat anyway. Health, and all that.”

Steve handed over the sandwiches without comment; Tony had heard his healthy eating speech a hundred times. Tony inhaled them like a starving man, so he guessed it had probably been awhile since the inventor had eaten. 

Steve turned to the lab bench, trying to figure out what it was that took up so much of Tony’s attention. There were several schematics up. Steve understood exactly none of them. One of them looked like it could be Natasha’s Bites, if he squinted, and another looked like Clint’s arrows. He even thought he saw his shield in there, but he couldn’t be sure. There were carefully-drawn numbers annotating everything that he didn’t have a hope of deciphering. It looked like months of work, but Steve knew Tony had done it all in his week-long creator’s binge. 

It was a little concerning, he wasn’t going to lie.

“Do you sleep anymore?” he asked, voice tinged with awe for Tony’s genius, as well as worry. There was no way that this much work was good for the engineer.

“ _ Anymore _ ?” Tony scoffed. He spread his hands placatingly. “Steve, I’ve always been like this. When the ideas won’t leave me alone, you know how it is. I can’t sleep until I get everything out.”

Steve knew scolding Tony wasn’t going to do anything; Tony was a grown man and could make his own choices. “Is there anything I can do to help?” he said instead.

Tony looked at him, and Steve had to resist the urge to fidget under the scrutiny. There was something intense in his brown eyes that made Steve feel like he was being stripped to his bones. Still, he stayed steady and met Tony’s stare head on.

“Wanna watch a movie?” he said, seemingly out of nowhere. “Can’t promise I won’t fidget like hell, but I have a better chance of passing out during Star Wars than while soldering. And if I’m alone, I’m probably just going to keep doing the latter. I was due for a break, anyway. I mean, if you don't want to, it's fine. I have plenty of work, I just... uh..."

There was a note of vulnerability in Tony’s voice that Steve rarely heard. He agreed almost without thought, not that it was any hardship.

“Of course, Shellhead,” Steve said, grabbing Tony’s arm to pull him over to the couch. He maneuvered the exhausted engineer to lean against him and motioned for JARVIS to turn on the movie. 

“Not Episode 2,” Tony protested, eyes already fluttering shut. His fingers were tapping an erratic pattern on Steve’s thigh. “I hate that one.”

Steve chuckled quietly. “Of course not,” he said seriously. Sleepy Tony was seriously adorable. “Episode 2 sucks.”

Tony was snoring softly before the beginning crawl had finished, leaning back against Steve’s chest with his face buried in Steve’s neck. Steve felt warm all over, like he had just drank a cup of his mother’s hot chocolate on a cold day, like he was getting a hug from one of his teammates, like-

Oh, he thought, recognizing the feeling. It was  _ love  _ that was making his heart swell with fondness as he looked down at Tony’s messy curls. Love that made the weight of Tony in his arms feel like home. _ Love.  _ Steve had always been the type to fall hard and fast for the kinds of people he could never have, and Tony was practically the dictionary definition of unattainable.

“Well, shit,” he said to the cadence of Tony’s sleeping breathing. “I’m in love with Tony Stark.”

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos make me happy :))
> 
> drop me a prompt on my tumblr [@imposter-human](https://imposter-human.tumblr.com/)!


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